COC, CBC File Applications For Different Amateur Sports Channels
The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and the CBC have filed applications for a new amateur sports channel, but the two bids are "significantly different," and that is why the Canadian Radio-television & Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) "should approve" both, according to William Houston of the GLOBE & MAIL. The proposed CBC channel, CBC SportsPlus, is "not really an amateur sports channel at all." Amateur content will make up only 25% of the programming with its "important selling feature" being its 80% Canadian content. The CBC channel would "serve, in large measure, as an overflow destination" for the main CBC net's sports properties. CBC Sports Exec Dir Scott Moore: "Canada needs a sports network that tells Canadian stories. Not the NFL, not Ultimate Fighting, not poker. Canadian athletes, professional, amateur and semi-pro, deserve exposure." With the CBC "seeking a category 2 licence, meaning discretionary or optional carriage by the cable and satellite companies, it is almost certain to receive approval." The channel is likely to launch as early as the fall of '09. Meanwhile, the COC's application is "more creative and ambitious." It proposes two channels, English and French-language, and is "asking for a category 1 licence, meaning mandatory carriage by the cable and satellite companies." The problem is that the CRTC "rarely hands out" category one licenses. However, programming would be 100% amateur sports with the channel providing "exposure to athletes, the best of whom are largely ignored in [Canada] except for two weeks every two years during the Olympics." The fee paid by consumers for the COC channel would be $0.60 per month (GLOBE & MAIL, 6/13).
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